Conjugate Master and Disciple

Soon, She Long admitted defeat.

Looking into the clear eyes of the youth before him, he suddenly realized he had lost some of his composure.

He tried to calm himself, but his thoughts remained in turmoil.

As his conversation with Zhou You grew more involved, their questions and answers had strayed from their original purpose and turned into a full-fledged discussion of the Dao.

A low-level Soul Master discussing the Dao with a high-level Soul Master? Who could have imagined it? Who would have dared?

She Long could clearly tell that Zhou You's understanding of the Soul Master system was indeed limited, but he had his own understanding of cultivation.

What frustrated him was that, when it came to many seemingly shallow questions, Zhou You's "twisted logic" got more directly to the heart of the matter. Yet even he, a Titled Douluo, couldn't understand many of the concepts involved.

For instance, on the subject of "Mental Power," Zhou You had brought up the theory of the "Consciousness Spirit." He believed that Mental Power was essentially a byproduct of the Consciousness Spirit's activity.

Since She Long had no basic knowledge of Daoism, he only half understood, even though Zhou You explained it very carefully.

Language had its limits. Some things were simply difficult to describe accurately in words, which was why Daoism had so many coded expressions and technical terms.

This was also the difficulty in Zhou You's communication with She Long. Whenever he tossed out a point of knowledge he considered self-evident and She Long failed to catch it, he would sigh inwardly.

To She Long, it seemed as though Zhou You was sighing at his stupidity.

She Long couldn't accept that.

He was a dignified Titled Douluo who had cultivated for nearly a hundred years, yet a little Soul Master who had only just obtained his first Soul Ring had torn him to shreds in a theoretical debate.

How was he supposed to bear that?

Zhou You looked at the distracted man across from him and shook his head inwardly.

He believed that anyone capable of cultivating to the level of a Titled Douluo must have strength of character, but a resolute character was not the same as understanding one's mind and seeing one's true nature.

From just a few exchanges, he could tell that while She Long's cultivation of the Nature Skill wasn't entirely nonexistent, it was still essentially a failing grade. That was absolutely not how a cultivator should be.

Normally, shouldn't someone be delighted when another person pointed out problems, or even flaws, in their cultivation?

If you took a detour and corrected it, couldn't you return to the right path? That was clearly a good thing!

Yet She Long had actually gotten a little upset...

How should he put it? Zhou You felt that Soul Masters were essentially closer to martial artists, cultivating only life and not nature.

Martial artists had extremely low requirements for the Nature Skill. One could even say they had virtually none; they only needed to maintain a mindset of courageous progress, pressing ever onward.

It wouldn't have been a problem for an ordinary Soul Master to be like that. After all, Zhou You could understand a wolfish cultivation culture, but it was a little off for a Titled Douluo to be the same.

At that level, very, very few things in the world could threaten a Titled Douluo. The next step should have been to strive for godhood, so naturally their state of mind ought to be carefully polished as well.

Fortunately, She Long wasn't truly a fool after all. He immediately realized his state of mind had fallen out of balance, so he cast aside his distracting thoughts and recalled their recent conversation over and over.

He began to immerse himself in it, trying to think through and accept the new ideas Zhou You had described, and use them to reflect on his own past cultivation.

Soul Master cultivation was basically pure empiricism, lacking crucial theoretical guidance.

As a result, when people encountered obstacles during cultivation, they lacked the theoretical tools to solve specific problems. Under those circumstances, the only way to break through was often to "guess" or "charge ahead blindly."

In any case, as long as they crossed a major realm, every problem could be cleaved apart like bamboo before a blade. This was a consensus among many Soul Masters.

But this method was only suited to truly gifted Soul Masters. Those with high Innate Soul Power rarely encountered bottlenecks when increasing their Soul Power, so they could simply "charge ahead blindly."

The vast majority of Soul Masters lacked such aptitude and could only remain stuck at a bottleneck for life, unable to advance an inch.

Having cultivated to his present level, She Long had also begun to reach the limits of his talent. Raising his Soul Power Level any further had become an immensely difficult task.

In the past, he too had crudely attributed this problem to his limited talent and exhausted potential.

But Zhou You's theory gave him another way of thinking, allowing him to shift the focus of his cultivation to the relatively unfamiliar field of "Mental Power."

She Long pondered it repeatedly and, before he knew it, entered Deep Meditation, the equivalent of an Otherworldly Being's deep meditative trance.

Large amounts of Heaven and Earth Vital Energy began to gather, entering through the pores all over She Long's body and being continuously refined into Soul Power by his Martial Soul.

Seeing this, Zhou You knew that She Long had inadvertently entered a state of enlightenment. He immediately restrained his presence, doing his best not to disturb him.

He understood very well how precious such a state was to a cultivator.

He didn't know how much time had passed before She Long naturally emerged from his trance. She Long found that his mind was a little tired, but his Soul Power had risen significantly.

This was a result that would ordinarily have been difficult to obtain even after many years of arduous cultivation.

Each time a Soul Master crossed a major realm, their Soul Power underwent a transformation. Not only did its total amount increase, but its intensity and quality also underwent qualitative changes.

But once its quality rose, the difficulty of purifying Soul Power naturally increased accordingly. Thus, the further one advanced, the harder it became to accumulate Soul Power.

This was not just a problem She Long faced; it was also one commonly encountered by other Titled Douluo.

Yet during this enlightenment, he had not only retained the results of his cultivation but also caught a glimpse of a broader road ahead.

Mental Power... That's right, why has no one tried to study it in depth?

She Long looked at Zhou You with a complicated expression. "You brat, you actually guessed right."

This had shaken him far more than the seven-hundred-year Soul Ring.

Zhou You paid no mind to the other man's stubborn words and merely smiled faintly. "Congratulations on advancing another step, Elder She."

She Long had served as a guinea pig of sorts, verifying a few things for Zhou You, who was also somewhat pleased.

"You..." She Long pointed a finger at the slippery little brat before him. He had to admit that he owed Zhou You a great favor.

He thought for a moment, then said, "Brat, let me ask you: would you be willing to take me as your teacher?"

Zhou You was a little surprised to hear this.

You? Seriously?

Don't we both know perfectly well which of us was teaching the other just now?

Seemingly noticing that his gaze was somewhat disrespectful, She Long said irritably, "Brat, your theoretical abilities may be strong, but when all's said and done, you're still just a six-year-old Soul Master."

At that, he suddenly cracked a grin, finding it somewhat hard to keep a straight face.

Only then did he remember that the little child before him was just six years old.

I can understand you being talented, but how did you develop this level of theoretical knowledge?

She Long had seen his background check, which was utterly clean. Could someone have been teaching him in secret?

She Long only entertained the guess for a moment before shaking his head and dismissing it. Whether the ideas were his own or borrowed from someone else would become clear in a discussion; She Long was not so incapable that he couldn't even tell that much.

There were too many strange things about this brat. He could only conclude that perhaps some geniuses were simply born with knowledge.

In a fantasy world where gods existed, the locals were quite accepting of such things.

Zhou You's various unexpected displays made She Long place even greater value on him. He had a faint sense that this brat was fundamentally different from other Soul Masters.

"Brat, you're smart, so you should understand that, whatever else you might say, I'm a Titled Douluo. I can certainly teach you more than the instructors at the academy, and I can certainly provide you with greater support."

"In the future, whether you need more resources, want to hunt for Soul Rings, or even seek certain privileges, having a Titled Douluo as your backer would be very convenient."

She Long was truly speaking from the heart. Facing Zhou You, he offered no empty talk, only practical benefits.

This considerably improved Zhou You's impression of him. She Long was treating them as equals in their exchange, which was quite rare and valuable in the current world, where combat strength was all that mattered.

So, after thinking for a moment, Zhou You decisively bowed to She Long.

"Then I look forward to your guidance from now on, teacher."

"Good! Good! Good!" She Long immediately burst into hearty laughter!